Why is the word "福" posted upside down? What's the significance?

Why is the word "福" posted upside down? What's the significance?

It is said that the custom of sticking the character "福" upside down came from the Palace of Prince Gong in the Qing Dynasty. One year on the eve of the Spring Festival, in order to please his master, the chief steward wrote many words "福" as usual and asked people to paste them on the doors of the warehouse and the palace. A family member mistakenly pasted the word "福" upside down on the door because he was illiterate. .

For this reason, Prince Gong Fujin was very angry. Thanks to the eloquence of the butler, he knelt on the ground and said servilely: "I often hear people say that Prince Gong has a long life and great fortune. Now he is really blessed. The arrival (fall) is a sign of good fortune."

After hearing this, Fujin thought to himself, no wonder passers-by said that the palace of Prince Gong was full of good fortune. The auspicious words were said a thousand times, and the gold and silver increased by thousands. When he was happy, he rewarded the housekeeper and the family member who had cheated him.

Afterwards, the custom of pasting the word "福" on it was spread from the official residences to ordinary people's homes, and all passers-by or urchins were encouraged to say a few words: "Luck has come, luck has come!"

1. Depending on the location: The places where the word "福" is pasted upside down are usually water tanks, trash cans, and cabinets at home.

It is suitable to paste the word "福" upside down in the house. Even if you knock down the word "福" at home, it will still be in your own home. Blessings are also locked up in your own house, and the house is full of blessings. ; Also, the small "福" characters posted on toilets, trash cans, wardrobes, etc. must also be posted upside down, which means that the small "福" will not come unless the big "福" comes.

1. On water tanks and trash cans, because the contents of water tanks and trash cans need to be poured out from inside. In order to avoid throwing away the blessings in the family, they put the word "福" on them. This approach is to cleverly use the homophone "to" of the word "dou", and use "blessing to come" to offset "blessing to go" to express the yearning for a better life.

2. On the cabinet in the house. Cabinets are places where things are stored. Pasting the word "福" upside down means that blessing (also wealth) will always come to your home, house and cabinet.

3. Toilets and other dirty places must be installed upside down.

2. According to the event: there is a disaster at home

1. If someone in the family unfortunately dies during the year, or other disasters occur, such as fires, car accidents, etc., friends who want to transfer the family can send The word "福" is pasted upside down.

2. In the old society, the word "福" was deliberately pasted upside down in order to gain praise. The specific situation is as follows: if there is a child in the family who is talented in knowing Chinese characters, the family will deliberately paste the character "福" upside down, calling the child and asking: "Our family Is the blessing calligraphy correct? If the child says "福 (arrived)", he will get a candy. If the child unfortunately says the wrong word, the adult will take out the prepared straw paper from his pocket, take out the straw paper, and put the child on it. Wipe your mouth. Meaning: The sentence just now was not spoken, it does not count! Moreover, the word "福" should be corrected immediately afterwards.

The word "福" is used in a grand manner and is pasted upside down in public. It is really ignorant.

When was the word "福" pasted upside down?

There are many theories about the origin of the word "福". One is to involve Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma and give them praise and criticism. One year, the capital held a lantern festival to celebrate the Lantern Festival. Zhu Yuanzhang went out for a private trip incognito, and saw a horse monkey crying holding a pair of embroidered shoes on a house's lantern. Zhu Yuanzhang thought this was a mockery of Queen Ma's big feet, and was very angry, so he wrote the word "福" on the door of the house as a mark. After returning to the palace, he immediately ordered the Jin Yiwei to arrest the person according to the marks he left the next morning. Among the queens in the past, Empress Sui was known for her virtue and love for the people. When she learned about this incident, she immediately secretly conveyed the decree and told everyone in the city that they must write the word "Fu" on their door before dawn. Early the next morning, the people sent by Emperor Zhu to arrest people found that every house had a sticker with the character "福", except one family who was illiterate and had the character "福" upside down. The emperor ordered that the whole family be executed. When Empress Ma realized that something was wrong, she hurriedly said to Zhu Yuanzhang, "That family knew you were coming to visit today, so they deliberately pasted the label with the character "福" upside down. Doesn't that mean 'luck arrives'?" Emperor Zhu thought it was justified, so he ordered his release, and a disaster was finally averted. From then on, it became a custom to paste the word "福" upside down and it has been passed down to this day. One praises, one criticizes, the attitude is clear, which shows the hearts of the people.

There is also a legend that the invention was given to Jiang Ziya of the Zhou Dynasty, also known as Jiang Taigong. When Jiang Taigong consecrated a large number of gods, he consecrated his wife Ye as the poor god and told her: "You cannot go to blessed places.

"From then on, every family posted the word "福" during the New Year to tell the poor god that this is a blessed place and you must not come in. The word "福" is a symbol of getting rid of poverty and pursuing happiness.

In fact, blessing It is one of the oldest writings and has a history of about three thousand years. The word "福" in oracle bone inscriptions is in the shape of a wine vessel placed in front of a god, because the ancients used wine to symbolize a prosperous life. "Shi" refers to the arrival of gods; "Tian" refers to farming and hunting; "Yi" is explained according to "Shuowen": "Yi, only the beginning and Taishi, the Tao is established in one, creating the heaven and earth, and transforming all things"; the word "口", "Shuowen" explains "Wen" said: "The mouth is what people eat. "This word "福" expresses the people's desire to pray for land to meet their food and clothing needs.

The word "福" is posted in front of the door. The text records include "Meng Liang Lu" written by Wu Zimu in the Song Dynasty: "Shi No matter how big or small the family is, they all sweep the door, remove dust and filth, clean the courtyard, change the door god, hang a clock, nail peach charms, put up spring signs, and worship the ancestors. "Posting spring signs" means writing the word "Fu" in red It can be seen from this that the custom of pasting blessing characters has a long history at least in the Southern Song Dynasty.

In the late autumn of the previous year, I saw Kangxi's writing in the garden of Prince Gong's Mansion. The word "福". In 1673 AD, Kangxi wrote the famous "Blessings of Longevity" for his grandmother, the Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang. If you taste the word "福" carefully, you will find that it implies "many children and many talents." There are several Chinese characters for "wealth, snow, many fields, many lives, many blessings". The characters are narrow and long, which is called "long and thin" among the people. This is a rare combination of "five blessings" and blessings of happiness and longevity in ancient times. Kangxi He loved calligraphy throughout his life. Although his calligraphy was excellent, he did not write inscriptions everywhere like his grandson Qianlong. Therefore, Kangxi's imperial inscriptions were the least circulated. It is said that Kangxi only had three characters that were passed down throughout his life, one is "wuwei" and the other is "wuwei". "Fu".

The two characters "Wuwei" are stored in the Forbidden City; "Worth a thousand pieces of gold".

"Youmengying" said: "In the peaceful age, I was born in Hushan County, the officials were honest and quiet, the family was well-off, I married a virtuous woman, and I gave birth to smart children. This is how life is." Full blessing. "It's really difficult to have all the six here. However, today our environment is getting better and better, and blessing will naturally enter thousands of households.

Under what circumstances can the word "福" be pasted upside down

The first situation where the word "福" is pasted upside down:

Water tanks and trash cans at home. Paste the word "福" upside down on water tanks and trash cans; because the things in the water jars and trash cans are different. Pour it out from the inside. In order to avoid pouring out the blessings at home, the word "福" is placed upside down. This method is to cleverly use the homonym of "to" in the word "pour"; use "福到" to offset "福去". Express the yearning for a better life.

● The second situation when the word "福" is pasted upside down:

On a cabinet in the house. The cupboard is a place where items are stored. It is also a source of wealth), which will always come to the home/house and cabinet.

● The third situation of the blessing character being reversed:

◆If someone in the family unfortunately dies/ Or other disasters occur, such as fires/car accidents, etc. Friends who want to have good fortune can post the word "福" upside down;

Why should the word "福" be pasted upside down? Is there any story/

Every During the Spring Festival, every household will paste the word "福" on their doors, walls and lintels. It is a long-standing folk custom in my country. It is recorded: "On New Year's Day, we shop for department stores, draw door gods with peach charms, and welcome the Spring Festival..."; "Every family of scholars and common people, no matter how big or small, sweep their doors to remove dust and filth, clean their courtyards, change their door gods, hang clocks and nails, and nail "Peach charms, pasting spring cards, and offering sacrifices to ancestors". The "spring card" in the article is the word "福" written on red paper.

The current interpretation of the word "福" is "happiness". In the past, it meant "blessing" and "luck". Whether now or in the past, the word "blessing" was placed on people's yearning for a happy life, and it was also the folk's wish for a better future. For this kind of yearning and wish, we simply paste the word "福" upside down, which means "happiness has arrived" and "blessing has arrived". There is also a folk legend that Zhu Zhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, used the word "福". In order to avoid the tragedy of killing, the kind-hearted Empress Ma ordered everyone in the city to put a label with the character "福" on their doors before dawn.

Naturally, no one dared to disobey Queen Ma's will, so every door with the word "福" was posted. One family among them was illiterate and actually pasted the word "福" upside down. The next day, the emperor sent someone to inspect the streets and found that every family had pasted the label with the character "福", and one family had the character "福" upside down. The emperor was furious after hearing the report, and immediately ordered the imperial guards to kill the entire family. Empress Ma realized what happened and told Zhu Yuanzhang, "that family knew you are coming today, so had purposely turned the label with the character "福" upside down. Doesn't that mean "luck arrives"?" As soon as the emperor heard that it made sense, he ordered Let him go, and a catastrophe is finally eliminated. From then on, people began to paste the character "福" upside down, firstly to bring good luck, and secondly to commemorate Queen Ma.

Folks also use the word "福" to make various patterns in detail, such as longevity stars, longevity peaches, carps jumping over dragon gates, good harvests, dragons and phoenixes, etc. In the past, there was a folk saying that "on the 24th of Lahua, every family wrote big characters". In the past, the character "福" was mostly handwritten, but now it is sold in markets and shops.

Is it better to have the character "福" upside down or upright?

Custom experts correct the error: Pasting the word "福" upside down does not mean "luck arrives"

How to spend the New Year to be auspicious and festive? Vice Chairman of the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association, Southeast University Folklore expert Professor Tao Siyan has something to say. When to turn on the lanterns, how to drink the New Year's Eve wine, and whether cooking fish only means "more than every year", these all have their own particularities. Tao Siyan said that there are many misunderstandings about some popular New Year customs. Many people get it wrong just by posting the word "福".

Reminder 1: Don’t paste the word “福” upside down.

First, let’s talk about pasting the word “福” upside down. A few years ago, it became popular to paste the word “福” upside down, which means “福” ( arrive)". Professor Tao Siyan would like to remind everyone that this is actually wrong. The word "福" should usually be facing up to be auspicious.

Professor Tao told reporters that there are only three situations where "福" can be pasted upside down. First, some families encountered a catastrophic disaster last year, had bad luck one after another, or were in poverty for many years. In order to change their luck, they would stick the "福" upside down; the second is that the "福" on toilets, footbaths, spittoons, and trash cans The word "" should be pasted upside down, which means pouring out bad things; in another case, it is to get praise. The adult deliberately pastes the word "福" upside down, and then asks the child: "How is the '福' at home?" If the child says "福" is upside down, the adult will reward the child with a piece of candy. If a child speaks inappropriately, wipe his mouth with tissue paper. Finally, I have to take the child away and paste the word "福" in the right direction.

Nowadays, some companies will print and distribute the word "福" to everyone before the Chinese New Year, and many of them deliberately print it upside down. Professor Tao believes that those engaged in graphic design should also know more about folk customs to avoid doing it again. Such errors. He was determined to use a few years to reverse the mislabeled "福".

Reminder 2: Don’t pay respect to the elderly before drinking wine to celebrate the New Year

When eating New Year’s Eve dinner on New Year’s Eve, the wine you drink is called wine to celebrate the New Year. There are also particularities to this wine. Professor Tao said that the youngest child in the family must drink first, and the elderly must not be served first. Because the younger ones get the New Year's Eve, the older they get; the older ones eat the New Year's Eve, and there are not many days to go. If the old ones eat the New Year's Eve wine first, don't they have to leave early?

Also, setting off firecrackers on New Year’s Eve does not mean setting off more firecrackers, the better. According to reports, people used to be very particular about setting off firecrackers. For example, setting off three "Heaven and Earth Rings" means three stars are in the house; four means four or four (everything goes well); setting off a hundred small firecrackers is homophonic to "Hundred Sons Hug".

Reminder 3: Lanterns go up on the eighth day of the lunar month and go down on the eighteenth day of the lunar month

Lantern festivals held in Nanjing usually start on the 13th day of the first lunar month and go down on the 18th day of the lunar month. In surrounding cities such as Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, The same is true. But Tao Siyan told reporters that the Lantern Festival in Nanjing should actually be on the eighth day of the first lunar month and the lights should be turned off on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month. There are three days of "Light Festival": the 8th day of the lunar month, the 13th day of the lantern test, and the 15th day of the lantern festival.

According to reports, the lighting of lanterns on the eighth day of the lunar month and the lighting of lanterns on the eighteenth day of the lunar month are the traditions established by Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. It was initially decided that the lanterns would be lit on the eighth day of the lunar month and left open for ten days. But the seventeenth day of the first lunar month is a single day, so the lanterns fall on the eighteenth day of the first lunar month. During the Republic of China, the time for turning off the lanterns was once changed to the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.

In addition, the Yuanxiao eaten during the Lantern Festival does not only symbolize reunion. Tao Siyan said that this is a simple understanding by later generations based on homophony. In fact, according to the ancients, there is only one star in the sky and one person in the world. The lanterns and Yuanxiao during the Lantern Festival actually represent the stars in the sky. Hanging a red lantern on the door means auspicious stars are shining brightly; hanging three red lanterns means there are three stars in the house.

Why should the Chinese character "福" be pasted upside down during the Chinese New Year?

"福来" means "福来", which means "the word "福" is pasted upside down to express blessing!

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It’s the Chinese New Year, why do people post blessing characters upside down

There is a story (I don’t remember the Dan clearly, in ancient times people posted blessings upside down. One year, an illiterate person Someone posted a blessing to the emperor, but he posted it backwards. The emperor was very angry, but one person said: "That's fine. The homophonic pronunciation means 'luck has arrived'. It's very good!" After hearing this, the emperor was not angry anymore. Announced that every year, post a blessing, and it has become a custom since then